daf bit: Ketuvot 61

[cellio]

A mishna teaches: if a married man makes a vow of celibacy, Beit Shammai says his wife must tolerate it for two weeks. Beit Hillel says one week. Rav says that this is only so when the man specifies a duration for the vow; if he does not, Rav says that both Shammai and Hillel require him to immediately divorce his wife and pay her ketubah. Samuel permits him to delay the divorce while looking for a way to be excused from the vow. (61b)

(There is no discussion here of limits on the duration, but I'll bet there is later in the gemara. Oh, and I don't know who Samuel is.)

This same mishna also gives the requirements for how often a man owes his wife intercourse (if she wants it), by the way. It varies by occupation, ranging from daily for men who don't work at all to every six months for sailors. I don't see scholars on the list. :-)

Comments

[zevabe.livejournal.com]

This is a dispute between the Rambam & I-forget-who. I think it is addressed in Yevamot somehow. I suppose the Rambam & Rishon B dispute how to interpret the Gemara there. It is somehow suggested that on the basis of A) Scholars being weekly B) No woman should have to wait more than a month for her turn and C) Scholars being the default (arguably about the middle of the spectrum), that a person shouldn't (as a suggestion) take more than 4 wives.

Or I could be remembering this entirely wrong. But I am fairly sure that it is a matter of debate as to whether A wife must be satisfied at least this often or if EVERY wife must be satisfied at least this often.